Oak leaves.....I have been dealing with them my whole life. I currently have a dozen or so mature (aka huge) oaks. The volume of leaves I have every fall is mind boggling. The most efficient removal method I have used is as follows. Rake or blow leaves out of flower beds and away from the house and into the middle of each section of the yard being careful not to make piles. Then mulch the leaves with your mower going over them several times. Change your mower over to bagging and vacuum the mulched particles. You can then add this to your compost pile, bag them in tough contractor plastic bags, or if your and idiot burn the particles in the street next to the curb. Haha. By mulching first and then bagging, the volume of leaves is reduced at least 20 fold or more. The few leaf particles missed by the mower and left deep in the St. Augustine will be unseen, beneficial, and gone in a few days. The average city yard covered with leaves deeply will take 2 to 3 large bags if mulched enough. No big deal. It works. I've done it this way for years.

Wow. This sounds like a common issue with this cultivar. I'm also getting the curling/dry/yellowish leaves. In addition, I've had two Beauty of Moscows flat out die, both in the same spot. In all occasions, all of the plants started out healthy looking. I wonder what could be the problem? Mine don't have wet feet and my soil is generally at 6.5 to neutral (although I did plant with peat/compost when they were first planted, but they looked fine for months afterward...plus I've worked wood ashes into the soil sometime ago...) Any lilac experts know what might be the problem? P.S. They get pretty much direct sunlight until late afternoon. Too much? Comments appreciated.

Here is a photo of the plants.

Hi CA Kate, wondering if anyone responded to your delima of basil plant size when you go to harvest are you just cutting which ever Individual leaf looks good? If so it could answer why its just growing back if you trim the top 1 - 2 nodes (think its called that) then your plant will grow faster. If you look at a main/larger stem you see a new tiny leaf coming out on 2 sides, that new growth is where it will spread if there is nothing above it. My outdoor plant is in a large grow bag with more room and new stems are coming out without me doing anything. And did you know harvesting the biggest leaves and leaving the new growth on the plant they may not grow healthy and harder Those large leaves are like the solar panels of the new guys…